Broken machinery and a lack of a useable budget are hampering Endumeni Municipality’s ability to maintain roads.
Cases in point are MacPhail Drive in Craigieburn and Ziga Street in Sibongile. MacPhail Drive has deteriorated to such an extent that parents taking children to and from Jelly Baby Crèche are reluctant to drive along the badly-potholed route. The condition has been exacerbated by last week’s rain. Ward Councillor Anthon Raubenheimer confirmed that he has been inundated with complaints from residents in the area.
“I went out there myself, and was appalled by the state of the road. It is unacceptable, and something needs to be done,” Councillor Raubenheimer said. However, the failure of Council to pass the adjustment budget, and other ‘simmering’ issues have impacted widely on service delivery. Councillor Raubenheimer said he spoke to residents and assured them that he was doing everything possible to ensure the road was attended to. The Courier asked acting Technical Services Manager Percy Mabilisa for comment, and he said since he was appointed four months ago, ‘the grader has not worked as it needs new tyres’. “We eventually got new tyres but then the brakes seized. So it cannot operate.” He referred the Courier to Callie Carelse of the Technical Services Department, who accompanied the Courier to the municipal workshop on Argyle Street. It was a sorry sight to behold. The 30-year-old grader was looking unusable, and has not worked for four months. “To repair the brakes will cost about R12 000. But this would only be a temporary measure, as what we really need is a new grader, at a cost of around R1,5-million.”
Mr Carelse said, “The R12 000 cannot be accessed while budgeting for a new grader, and requests to supply other road-making equipment have not been granted since I started with Endumeni in 2000.”
The front-end loader also has not worked for a month. The roller has been out of action for a year.
“A cheap roller would cost R900 000 – so clearly we are not getting that.” Asked about the hiring of equipment from businesses in the private sector, Mr Carelse said the costs run at about R450 per hour, excluding diesel, and this would become prohibitively expensive.
He said he and his staff ‘are desperate to implement service delivery on MacPhail Road and other roads, but a lack of equipment and a lack of a budget is hampering our efforts’. “Perhaps when the budget readjustment is passed we can finally see some light at the end of a tunnel,” he remarked.